


Second Chances

by CathyFowl



Series: Thedosian Works In Progress [5]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, I'm Bad At Summaries, Kaimelara, M/M, OC in Thedas, Oh boy all the spoilers, On Hiatus, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Original Character, Slow Build, Spoilers, Tags Are Hard, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 17:49:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6764020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CathyFowl/pseuds/CathyFowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Paul Lockwood, the General of the army of the Kaimelara and Captain of the Queen's personal guard, comes to Thedas with his Queen and lover to help the Divine end the Mage-Templar war at the Conclave. After the explosion, however, he finds himself lost without his Queen, stuck with the Mark upon his hand and titled the Herald of a prophet he had barely heard of. At first he stays out of a sense of duty. But after meeting a certain Tevinter mage, will he stay for love?</p>
<p>Update: On HIATUS because, apparently, my OCs hate me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first REAL try at writing fanfiction. Not edited, not beta-d, all mistakes are mine.  
> Dragon age characters and their story belong to BioWare. All Kaimelara shindigs are mine.  
> All comments and critiques are welcome.

Two sets of footsteps echoed on the stone floor. An unlikely pair, who did not belong to this world, made their way through one of the empty side corridors of the Temple of Sacred Ashes.

One was a tall and lean man, with wide shoulders and slender hips. He was built like a warrior, although the grace and fluidity of his movements belied a slightly different function. He was the Captain of his Queen's personal guard and General of Her army. His midnight blue dress uniform, enchanted but not to be called armor by any stretch of the imagination, accentuated his black hair and startling blue eyes.

"We should have waited for Divine Justinia in her chambers," he said to his companion. "I am sure that she is dealing with some important matter that came up. Probably smoothing some ruffled feathers before the Conclave truly begins so she can ensure the best outcome."

His companion looked at him with one eyebrow raise in doubt. She was shorter, although she could only be called small in comparison to the General. Her beautiful figure was highlighted in the silver and black dress she wore. A dress fit for the Queen that she was, yet so cleverly tailored that it would hinder her movements not at all. Her dark chestnut hair was pulled up into an elaborate bun, serving the same function of elegance and practicality as her dress. Her hazel green eyes flashed in irritation at her General's comment.

"Paul, my love, you should know better than to question my intuition," she chided him. "She's been gone for over an hour and this feeling of dread won't leave me."

Paul bowed his head in acquiescence.

"Of course, my Lady Fagora." He said. "Your precognition, indeed, has no boundaries. Even in an _otherworld_ such as this," he grinned.

"Oh, shussh!" Fagora chuckled and stopped to draw her lover down for a kiss.

"I wish this mess was over and we could be heading home already for the wedding," Paul whispered after they parted. He cupped his Queen's face then traced the lines of her lips with his thumb before sighing and straightening.

"They need help," Fagora said. "And so do we. It is only fair to give our aid in exchange for theirs." Her eyes darkened with sadness.

They had been fighting their own wars back home, in the land of the Kaimelar, the kingdom of Dreams called Somnium. Their Kingdom was recently freed from the terror of the Darkness. But with the Shadow Warriors defeated, they were only starting to rebuild and needed the aid of any _otherworlder_ who would agree to help.

But the end of the war also meant that their feelings for each other, that had been put to the side in the face of duty, finally would come to fruition in their marriage.

"Besides," Fagora said. "I bet that you just want to be crowned King already," she teased.

"My lady! You wound me." Paul said, putting on an air of fake hurt. Fagora just grinned, her smile wide and true, deepening the laugh lines gracing the corner of her eyes.

"Come on, let's find Justinia and we can finally start these negotiations," she said starting to walk again.

"Do you think the Divine could broker peace between the Mages and the Templars?" Paul asked as he followed, falling back in step beside his Queen.

"Either that, or her Plan B is going into effect. As I understand, she already gave her writ to the Right and Left Hands of the Divine. If the Conclave fails, the Inquisition will be reborn." She shrugged. "The war has to end either way. We'll just have to..."

Fagora broke off mid-sentence.

Paul could feel it too. A sense of wrongness and evil that he had only ever felt when facing the Shadow Knight himself. The two kaimelar looked at each other, their wide eyes meeting only for a second before they were both off at a run.

Paul drew his sword and Fagora gathered her magic, its alien nature to this world making it all the brighter to Paul's senses. The evil aura came from the end of the hallway, from behind a heavy set of doors.

"Keep the sacrifice still," A deep gravelly voice rumbled behind the doors and then the voice of Divine Justinia. "Someone, help me!"

They only took a moment, but hearing the word ‘sacrifice’, the kaimelar sprang into action. Paul through the doors open, entering with his sword raised. Fagora stepped right past him.

"What's going on here?!?" She shouted.

The scene in front of them shocked Paul into motionlessness.

Divine Justinia was surrounded by mages in griffon themed armor. She was suspended in midair by their magic, trapped. And in front of her... an eight-foot tall monster of a man, more of a creature than a person. Its body was barely more than a collection of a deformed skeleton, red crystals and rotten skin and flesh in tattered robes. And it was holding a great green-glowing orb. Paul could sense powerful magic trapped in the strange orb. The creature was using the orb to drain Divine Justinia’s life force. A blood ritual?

Everything happened quickly then.

Fagora blasted her magic at the evil creature. It had roared in fury and was distracted enough that the ritual was distrupted. It ordered his mages against the "intruders". Paul readied himself to fight them off with his sword and his own magic, leaving Fagora to free the Divine. Justinia, taking advantage of the creature's distraction, knocked the orb from its hand.

Both Fagora and the creature turned, following the orbs trajectory as it rolled toward Paul. He reached down by reflex to catch it.

"NO!!!" the evil creature and Fagora cried out in unison. But it was too late. Paul had already caught the orb in his left hand and before anyone else could move, it exploded with violent magic, a bright green flash before everything went dark.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading.


End file.
